The Road to Nowhere

Unknown Caller and Revelations

   "So, you need to tell your parents how you feel about their decision to use your coming out to them as a catalyst for their fights. From how you explained it to me, they're not so much mad that you're gay, but they want to blame one another for you being gay. I would talk to them both off air if you could arrange that," Emiko Harada said to the caller on the line, "Just call Vee back when you can. Now, my dears, we have to take a brief break to pay the bills around here," she added.

    You're listening to Come out Breakout with Dr. Emi Jade on WLAS 1210 AM.

   "Aaand you're clear. Great call Emi, "Vee said through the mic from the other side of the sound booth.

   "Thanks, Vee, I need to get another tea and pee. Can you extend the commercials?" Emi asked.

   "No problem, Chicka," Vee responded with a thumbs up.

   Emi took off her headset and stood up to stretch out her five-foot four slender frame and grabbed her teacup as her cellphone vibrated on the desk. She picked it up to see the same unlisted number she has had for the past hour. "Whoever you are, you're persistent," she said as she activated the call." Who is this and how did you get my number?" she asked with annoyance in her voice.

   "Emi. It's Kris. Sorry I can't use my regular cell at the moment," came the rich tone of his voice on the other end.

   Emi stopped in her tracks and dropped her teacup on the floor. As it shattered to pieces, she tried to find her voice, as the shock had stolen it from her. "Kris? Kris!! How? What? Where are you? Are you okay?" the words could not come out fast enough as she ranted.

   "I'm fine for now, but I need your help," he stated." Can I come to the station?" Kris asked.

   "Where are you?" Emiko asked sternly.

   "Bus station 200 South Main Street, here in Vegas," he replied.

   "I'll be right there. Don't you move," she said as she waved at Vee through the window from the hall.

   "You still the hot ass Asian with a thing for green?"

______________________________________________________________________

   "So let me get this straight." Jesalyn said with a slight furrow of her brow," Lycans have two forms. Human and big ass wolf. Garou has three. Human, hybrid, and bigger ass wolf?" she asked as she sat in the passenger seat of her Jeep because Mitch wouldn't let her drive.

   "Yes," Mitch replied, "... and Garou are the mystical of the two species of canine shifters," he added. He had to admit Jesalyn was taking the revelation of shifters a lot better than he would have dared thought. The tiny group of people who actually know one of the best-kept secrets of Nowhere have had more extreme reactions when they found out.

   Jes rubbed her temples to speed the slow waning headache away. "Mystical, right because Lycans are created from a transmitted virus from a bite. They create Garou from taking on a ritual involving drinking wolf's blood and the blessing of both the Tribal chiefs and the Great wolf spirit," she summed up the knowledge she had just gained. "And you're taking me to meet John Redfeather so he can see if they can trust me with this knowledge?"

   "No. I'm taking you to see John so he can explain the importance of why we work very hard to keep the rest of the country unaware of the existence of Shifters," Mitch corrected.

   "Trust me, I get it. If the Government found out, they would try to gather them all up and use them for whatever covert thing they wanted." Jes said, rolling her eyes.

   "They did that already. It's called Division 13." Mitch almost growled his rebuttal.

  "What?" Jes' voice squeaked in surprise.

   Mitch pulled the Jeep off the road and stopped as he let out a long-drawn-out sigh. The next thing he had to say would either make their new friendship more solid or it would doom any hopes of it. "Division 13 is the U.S. Government's supernatural covert black operations team. It was formed almost 30 years ago to combat anything that the Government thought needed to be eliminated in the U.S.'s best interests," he explained accompanying with air quotes.

   "Division 13," Jes said, more to herself than to Mitch. There was something familiar about it, but her headache was still painful enough to not allow her to order her thoughts to recall where she had heard it, "How do you know about it?" Jes asked as she stared blankly at him.

   "The last six years of my Army Ranger career I spent with them," he said with a growing fear in his voice.

   Jes looked at him, trying to analyze his response. His face had practically drained of color and his voice trembled. Mitch was scared. "Which one are you?" she asked in a flat tone. Jes wasn't mad. Something like this would be hard enough to tell anyone; let alone someone you just met and are heavily attracted to. Jesalyn knew he was attracted to her. You'd have to be blind and stupid not to. Just as Jes was also attracted to him, she just fighting it because of her devotion to her dead fiancé.

   Mitch let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Instinctively, he had braced for the worst potential outcome, yet here the attractive blonde yet again defied the odds and didn't immediately freak out or jump out of the Jeep in sheer terror, "I'm a unique form of Shifter. I'm what they ended up terming a Grifter," he explained, "I don't have forms per se. If I'm in the proximity to animals or even Shifters, I can take on certain aspects of them," he added hoping that this would not doom him.

   Jes looked at him. His face was at war with itself. She could see shame, dejection, sadness, and a little sliver of hope emanating from it. She took his right hand that had been white knuckling the gear shifter in her hands as she looked deeply into his brown eyes, "Why are you afraid?" she asked, "I admit this is a lot to take in, but you have been nothing but kind and understanding since I have met you. Why would I want to screw that up by not being the same in return?"

   "I like you a lot, Jes. Since I met you, I don't know how to explain it. I want to help you find peace and the joy of life again," Mitch confessed, "I know you feel it too. I respect you need to come to terms with your loss on you own terms but finding out what I am is a bit much to expect that it doesn't affect how you are going to see me from this point on," he explained.

   His words were sincere and truthful. Mitch's look was so transparent, as if not to even show anything but truth. Jesalyn raised her right hand to touch his face tenderly with her palm. "Your right. I like you a lot as well. I just can't get over feeling guilty about it at the moment. I have only loved one man with everything that I am ever, and he was taken from me," her blue eyes gleamed as her voice started trembling, "But never think I won't try to understand anything about who you are. I'm not that kind of person. I refuse to be that person. I've pissed off many people because of that." Jes declared with a soft defiance in her voice.

    Mitch looked at Jesalyn with amazement. This woman who has been through so much and enduring through unimaginable pain just boldly stated that she could accept him for what he was. Whoever Nathan was, he was definitely a very lucky man to have shared a life with her. Mitch felt honored to even possibly have a snowball's chance in hell to cultivate a relationship with her. He took her hand from his face and kissed the back of it. "Thank you for that. I will try hard to be worthy of that declaration," he whispered.

   They looked at each other for a long, silent moment. Then Jesalyn's stomach growled. "I guess I better get you something to eat, huh?" Mitch smiled with a chuckle.

   "Tacos." Jes chuckled nervously as her cheeks reddened.

   "Tacos it is."